Chetwode is a sparsely populated parish in north-west Buckinghamshire which has become the focus of intensive archaeological investigation as it is on the route of the HS2 railway. Documentary research has also been carried out, and this volume contains some of its results: transcriptions of 108 wills and the legal disputes associated with some of them over a period of more than three centuries. Some of the wills were written by local people and show how they spoke and what they cared about. Others deal with the concerns of gentry families who had substantial wealth to bequeath.

Most of the property in Chetwode belonged to two families: the Risleys and the Chetwodes. The Risleys took over the former Priory and lived in a house on the site. The Chetwodes were lords of the manor from the Middle Ages but not many of them resided in the Manor House. The other inhabitants of Chetwode who made wills were mostly tenant farmers and their widows. Absentee landlords also included the family of a future Prime Minister, and a man whose disputed will was reported in the national press. Two lawsuits between the Risleys and the villagers are included as appendixes.

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